Friday, June 22, 2007

Now or Never

It’s time for our weekly recap of our Wildcats in the Europe/Indoor leagues. We had one ‘Cat wrap up his season on a strong note, one ‘Cats with the week off, one ‘Cat looking to put up back-to-back wins, and two more who look to stop their team’s skids.

Elliott finishes in Europa and looked good doing it.

The Cowboy took 100% of the snaps in games 7, 8, and 9 for the NFL Europa’s Rhein Fire but Brett Elliott was inserted into his team’s final game, a 17-13 loss to the Hamburg Sea Devils, but BE built some momentum heading into training camp with the San Diego Chargers. The (twice) 1st team Linfield All-American was 6 for 12 on the day but if not for a few drops would have shined even greater.

Brett was sharp all day and looked like a QB who’s made the adjustment to the pro game. Hopefully the time in Europa has prepared Brett to make some noise in San Diego and earn that 3rd QB roster spot for the Chargers.

Our Boise Burn started out on fire this season with a 4-1 start but 5 losses later has left a bitter taste in the Burn’s mouth as a playoff birth seems more like a reach. Former Linfield All-American Brandon Hazenberg (’05) has been placed on the IR for the next 4 weeks with an injured shoulder. I spoke with Brandon today and he feels the injury is on the mend but very optimistic about Boise righting the ship and making a run for a playoff slot.

It’s not going to be easy as WR Casey Allen (twice Linfield 1st team All-American) will bring the Burn to visit the division leading Spokane Shock (7-4). The two square off this Saturday at 5 pm at the Spokane Arena.

The Wild are roughed up

After being at home the past three weeks the Intense Football League’s Alaska Wild was back on the road as they visited the Odessa Roughnecks. It wasn’t pretty as the ‘Necks just double barrel blasted the Wild by a score of 72-33. Former ‘Cat stand out, Thomas Ford Jr, again pulled his weight with a pair of touchdowns but the Wild just doesn’t have the weapons on either side of the ball to break into that win column.

The Wild are back in Texas this week as they face the San Angelo Stampede Express. This is where I’m hopeful. The Express are 2-7 on the year and have been crushed a few time so if the Wild are going to break out of the yearlong funk…this is the game. So let’s give TFJ about 16 “Catdome’s” before you go to bed for some much needed karma.

Our Hawks will not get bent out of shape

The Arkansas Twisters are visiting our Everett Hawks this week as former Linfield standout Ricky Gaspar (’02) helps lead the AF2’s Hawks improving play. Since Gaspar signed with the Hawks 6 weeks ago, Everett has taken off in avg. 52 points a game as Everett has won 2 out of the last 3. The offensive line is a massive force (6’3”, 310 lbs) and supplying the time needed for the Hawks to get their offense on track.

The Hawks are getting big test as the 7-3 Twisters are no patsy but this is by far the longest roadie for the Twisters. The game kicks off at 7:30 so you have plenty of time to chug some cold ones in the parking lot.

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Catdome Connections

Why "ADvantage Catdome"

I’ve had a number of people ask me why the blog is called ADvantage Catdome. So instead of repeating the explanation over and over, I thought I would just lay it out here.

Back in 1986 my father took me to my very first Linfield game, the final regular season game vs. Pacific (Linfield would roll the Boxers on their way to their 3rd NAIA title). I was 10 years old at the time and I can remember seeing these banners the pep squad/students have hung up on the fences around the Catdome. They read “We have the ADvantage”.

I pulled on my dad’s shirt and asked him what that meant. He pointed to the coaches box in the far back of Memorial stadium and said “You see that man there? That’s Coach Rustchman. He’s Linfield’s advantage.”

It wasn't until later that my dad told me Coach Rustchman’s first name was “Ad”. Get it now? Good. Go ‘Cats!